


Zero Possibility

by sunshine_locks



Series: Reflections [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: And suicidal ideation, M/M, concerning suicide, except for this one really serious conversation, mostly just dumb fluff of albus and scorpius starting to like each other, plot what plot literally, there is a plot but it's very slightly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:29:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_locks/pseuds/sunshine_locks
Summary: Albus honestly thought that there was zero possibility of mixing up locker numbers when delivering a letter. He also thought that he'd never cross paths with him, let alone become friends with him.He thought wrong.
Relationships: Albus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy, Albus Severus Potter/Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, Lily Luna Potter/OC, Lily Potter II/OC, that tag is very minimal though
Series: Reflections [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1439449
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	Zero Possibility

**Author's Note:**

> Albus, for the love of him, could not stop shaking his leg.

Albus, for the love of him, could not stop shaking his leg. It was a product in part due to his inability to stay still, and in part due to the fact that today was The Day. Yes, it was That Day. The day he would finally give his damned letter to the girl he liked—Hansika, of course.

Everything was all set to go: he was in his psychology class, which was the nearest to Hansika’s locker he would get the whole day, and his letter was tucked safely into the pocket of his jacket. All that was left was that his class needed to let out so that he could finally deliver it; it sort of felt like he was holding a hot stone with nowhere to put it down. Dramatic, yes, but forgive him for feeling a little on edge.

Just as the teacher was about to go into sleep cycles, class let out, and Albus couldn’t help but release a sigh of relief. He put away his pencils and notebooks as fast as he humanely could and left the room at a brisk walk. The last thing he needed was to be seen as suspicious—his nervous tics already put him at a huge disadvantage.

As he approached Hansika’s locker, he briefly wondered whether this whole leaving a letter in someone’s locker was creepy or not. It wasn’t like he was threatening her or anything and Hansika knew him… but who knew? It wasn’t like life followed the narratives of movies to a tee, and his life was particularly unfortunate even if life did.

Shaking his head, Albus snapped himself out of his reverie. He shouldn’t stick around longer than he should, or otherwise he’ll be late for his next class. Monday was one of those days where college decided to fuck him sideways and have classes back to back from nine to four. He glanced behind him at the locker, and he hoped for the best. 

—

Albus closed the door behind him as quietly as he could. The time he came home always inevitably coincided with the times his parents were the busiest with their jobs, even if they mostly worked from home. 

He slid off his shoes and placed them on the shoe rack. Albus set his stuff on the chair next to where his mum was sitting, who gave him a quick smile and hug. After grabbing an apple, he sat down. His mum gave him a curious look. 

“Everything alright?” she questioned. “You’re usually…” She gestured to the rocking chair in the living room, and Albus smiled. He was practically a fixture in that chair, as he was usually napping there for a good few hours before finally grabbing some coffee at seven and cracking down on his work. Really, he should start his work earlier, but he found that he can’t even concentrate on doing simple math let alone writing psychology papers if he didn’t sleep for a good three hours. 

Albus shrugged. “Not feeling really sleepy today. I’m waiting for something today,” he offered with a nervous giggle.

“Oh,” his mum said, looking concerned. “Really? Do you mind telling me?” 

“Later, I think,” he told her with a small smile, and took out his phone. He was disappointed to find that he had no new notifications, except for a few he had from the group chat with his circle of friends. He sent a quick reply and wondered whether he had been too eager to see at least a text from Hansika, regardless of if it was an acceptance or not. If anything, she’d probably only just got the chance to open the letter or something, so perhaps patience would have to be his new best friend. 

Albus took out his maths homework to get a head start on his differential equations problems. He hated them with his entire heart, purely for the fact that he had to spend more time with his maths homework than he would have preferred.

Slowly, he began to work through his problems, though that didn't put a stop from checking his phone habitually.

Just as Albus started to get discouraged, his phone dinged, and he let out a noise. He was unsure of whether it was out of fear, surprise, or anticipation. Maybe it was all three. 

Assuring his mum that he was only just excited, he unlocked his phone, and what he saw made him nearly astral project into a different plane right then and there.

(4:45 p.m.)  _ um. hello _

(4:45 p.m.)  _ not really sure if you know me but _

(4:45 p.m.)  _ you left a letter in my locker _

(4:45 p.m.)  _ it wasn’t for me, it was for Hansika, right? _

(4:46 p.m.)  _ well, um. you might know me, i’m scorpius _

(4:46 p.m.)  _ damn it i just repeated myself. but whatever _

(4:46 p.m.)  _ i tried not to read the letter, i promise _

(4:47 p.m.)  _ i noped out as soon as i saw ‘dear hansika’ so _

(4:47 p.m.)  _ but i did see your number at the bottom _

(4:47 p.m.)  _ so here i am. i’m assuming you don’t want me to keep this so, like, when are you free to meet up? _

Albus looked at the messages with a blank sort of smile and nodded to himself absentmindedly. His mind did not feel like it was a part of his body, and it was floating farther and farther away with every second that passed.

The silence lasted a bit too long for his mum’s tastes apparently, as she was asking about whether his sanity was intact. Surely the image of him muttering and nodding to himself couldn’t have been an argument for his case. 

So, instead, he looked his mum in the eyes and said, “I fucked up big time.” 

—

The next time he had classes again, which was Wednesday, Albus was a bit of a nervous wreck. Well, actually, it was better to ask himself when he  _ wasn’t _ a nervous wreck since this was a common occurrence for him. But he digressed.

Honestly, he felt like a right idiot. He’d spent the majority of the night wondering what exactly went wrong and then it struck him: Hansika’s locker was number 416, but his dumb ass mixed it up and thought that it was locker 461. And because of such a simple mistake, he had gotten himself into this dumpster fire of a mess. He couldn’t even imagine what Scorpius thought of this fuckery.

Sighing, Albus looked heavenward, and from the corner of his eye, he saw someone turn into the hallway. Taking a closer look, he saw that it was Scorpius. Maybe. It quite frankly had been a while since he had seen him—five years to be exact, they were both sixteen now—and to be even more honest, Scorpius could have dyed his hair black and Albus would be none the wiser.

“Hello,” he greeted, “Scorpius…?”

The boy in front of him nodded encouragingly, smiling. “Yeah, that’s me.” Cutting right to the chase, he dug around in his backpack for a moment, and then in his hand was Albus’ letter, looking as pristine as it was on the day that he wrote it. Scorpius took care of it well.

“Right, thank you,” Albus said, bowing slightly out of habit. “Sorry for getting you into this whole… situation.” 

Scorpius still had his genial smile on his face as he waved his apology off. “It’s fine.” He paused, looking off into space. 

Frowning, Albus almost didn’t want to know what schemes were swirling inside Scorpius’ head. This was often a face he saw on both James’ and Lily’s face, so he knew when his siblings were about to get into some shit or whatever.

“But actually…” Scorpius began, and Albus gestured for him to continue warily. “The girl you were writing to… was it Hansika Chowdary?”

“As if there are more Hansikas lurking around here?” 

“Three actually,” he fired back. “So?”

Albus rolled his eyes and nodded in assent. When he did so, he swore he saw Scorpius’ eyes go from a dim grey to a shiny platinum in mere milliseconds right in front of him. 

“That’s good to know,  _ I _ just happen to be friends with Hansika Chowdary.”

Albus had to admit that got him a little bit excited, and he couldn’t deny that having someone who knew her better than him would be more helpful than he would be to himself. “So, what are you saying, that you’ll help me ‘get the girl’?” He scoffed at the ridiculous notion.

“No… I’m saying I’ll help you confess to her or at least get you the chance to talk to her.”

That was really nice of him to do… but where was the ‘but’ that usually followed statements such as those?

“But—”

Ah, there it was. At least James and Lily did teach him something useful, instead of dragging him in to save their asses, like they almost always did.

“—you’re friends with someone that  _ I _ like.” 

“And who would that be?”

“Adrian Lopez,” Scorpius announced, as if it was a long-awaited secret deserving of fanfare and celebration.

“Right, and you want  _ me _ to help you talk to him?” Albus finished for him. This was how things went, right?

“Very astute of you, Potter. I’d like the chance to talk to him, but he’s so closed off, so if I’m with you, I have an excuse.” Scorpius beamed at him.

“Al,” Albus corrected him. 

“What?”

“Call me Al, there are way too many Potters running around here.” 

“Right, well, you can call me Scor, then,” he told him, and Albus nodded. 

“So…” Scorpius trailed off. “You in?” 

Albus considered it, and he supposed it was a pretty even trade. And he didn’t have much to lose. Worst case scenario was that he’d have to avoid Hansika for the rest of his life, and the best case was that he finally got to talk to her. And maybe getting Scorpius as a friend. Possibly. 

“Okay, fine, it’s a deal.” He put out an outstretched hand, and Scorpius shook it. 

It seemed the Malfoy boy was more Slytherin than he looked—couldn’t do anything without getting something out of it.

Scorpius snorted rather loudly. “I’ll take that as a compliment, thanks.” 

Albus blushed as he realized he didn’t keep that in his head like he’d intended to. Attempting to change the subject, he said, “My letter, please?”

Scorpius handed it over. “I have class to get to, but you have my number. We’ll text soon,” he rushed out to say, and Albus watched as he left. He left for his own class with the thought that he was such a strange boy.

—

(8:15 a.m.)  _ hellooo _

(8:15 a.m.)  _ it’s scorpius. you should have my number saved by now, right? i hope you have, at least. _

(8:15 a.m.)  _ anyways! today at lunch, you should hang out with us because Hansika will be there and it’s a good chance for you to talk to her _

(8:17 a.m.)  **it’s way too early for this shit my dude**

(8:17 a.m.)  **do we even have to do it today anyways?**

(8:19 a.m.)  _ duh _

(8:19 a.m.)  _ otherwise we never will if i let you push it off like that _

(8:20 a.m.)  **how do YOU know that asshat**

(8:21 a.m.)  **i’m tired from writing a paper, let a bitch live tf**

(8:22 a.m.) so you gonna come or no

(8:23 a.m.)  **no, sit with me. bring your friends**

(8:24 a.m.)  **you’ll get to see adrian that way**

(8:26 a.m.)  _ :O _

(8:26 a.m.)  _ that’s a better idea, we’ll do that _

(8:27 a.m.)  **i figured. i have to go catch a bus now, thanks. which i’m LATE for, by the way**

(8:28 a.m.)  _ well, what are you doing here texting me? get on it! _

(8:29 a.m.)  _ p.s. it’s not MY fault _

(8:30 a.m.)  **asshat**

—

Blinking languidly at his phone, Albus rubbed his eyes as he tried to rid them of their tiredness. Yawning, he managed to wave a half-hearted hello to Michelle. He really wasn’t lying when he said that he was tired from writing a psychology paper. They were usually fun, but not when you put it off until the eleventh hour. His mum, ever the journalist, always told him every type of writing took time, and you shouldn’t shirk your work.

Clearly, he hadn’t learned his lesson. And he probably wouldn’t until he physically couldn’t procrastinate—it was in his bones.

Getting tired of scrolling through his social media, he put away his phone, opting to look around. He could’ve sworn that he had seen Scorpius walking out of McGonagall’s (perhaps better preceded by the title of professor; he wouldn’t doubt it one bit if he found out that she could read minds or something) physics class on some other Friday. He hoped he was correct. 

When he scanned the area, he caught Scorpius walking out, his bag slung over one shoulder. Brightening, Albus went to his side immediately. 

“Hello,” he greeted, but Scorpius nearly jumped out of his skin. “Jesus fucking Christ, Al,” he exclaimed, but Albus only smiled innocently. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Looking at Scorpius a little closer now, he noticed that he looked like he went through hell. “You good?” 

“After sitting through a two-hour long physics class, am I ever good?” Scorpius answered. “What are you doing here, we said we’d meet each other at lunch?” 

“You don’t know where I sit though, do you? I thought I’d take you there.” 

Scorpius gave him a strange look. “Sure I do, you sit away from the crowds, you and your group.”

Now it was Albus’ turn to give a strange look. Scorpius had noticed him, when he had not so much spared even a second for him? That made him feel a little bad, but he also wondered why Scorpius had noticed him. 

“Right… well, this way,” Albus told him, pulling him to the table by his arm.

“Hello, Al,” Michelle greeted him, not looking up. When two voices greeted her back, she finally looked up from her notebook.

“Oh, you brought Scor?” Michelle asked, waving hello at the boy in question.

“Yeah… you know each other?”

“We’re in the same art class. How’s your painting going? It was rough the last time I saw, wasn’t it?” 

“Better. My mum was nice enough to help out this time.” 

As his other friends started to arrive, Albus tried to introduce Alexandra, Maria, and Adrian… key word being tried. Adrian wasn’t exactly… receptive to new people. He truly didn’t want to discourage Scorpius, so he tried to get them both in a conversation, but it wasn’t working. 

Giving up for the moment, he introduced himself to one of Scorpius’ friends, who told him his name was Theo Nott the second. What was the point of naming your children after yourself unless you were expecting your death soon?

But Theo seemed like a nice person. He immediately went into a rant about his older brother who was supposedly an asshole. Albus was more than happy to listen, as he was horrible at making real conversation.

Occasionally, he glanced at Scorpius, and thankfully he seemed to be getting along just fine with his friends, which was a relief. Surprisingly, Adrian had seemed to come out of his shell just a bit, chiming in here and there whenever Alexandra made a point.

Well, this was slightly easier than he thought. It was good that Scorpius knew how to navigate these waters, because Albus certainly didn’t. In fact, he was pretty sure his friends saw his lonely ass and decided to adopt him. 

“Hello,” a feminine voice next to him greeted, and Albus threw the phone nestled in his hand to Theo on accident, who caught it and gave it to him, thankfully. 

“Sweet Jesus,” the voice said, and Albus looked over to see who the perpetrator was—his heart felt like it skipped a beat, and it wasn’t from being jump scared. 

“Hey,” he greeted back, hoping he didn’t look as jittery as he felt to Hansika.

“Didn’t mean to scare you my dude,” she said. “I promised Scor I wasn’t going to be late to lunch, but I got caught up in music class. Practicing the piano, you know? Anyways, how’s your day been, Al?” 

“Ah, um, okay, I guess. I'm a bit tired. I don’t want to be here. Stayed up writing a psych paper and ended up getting three hours of sleep.” 

Hansika brightened. “You’re taking psych? With who? Chang or Min?” 

“Min,” Albus responded, blinking. 

“Damn, we’re not in the same class.” If she was in his class, he definitely would’ve noticed. And his grades would’ve taken a hit likely, so it was a good thing that she wasn’t. “Shame,” Hansika continued, and for some reason this flustered him. She  _ wanted _ him in her class? Wild.

“But anyways, what’d you write your paper on? I personally thought choosing the topic you wrote about was hard, but eventually I managed to bullshit something about sleep cycles and what a solid sleep schedule can do to change your life.”

“Sounds cool,” he replied, relieved. Hansika was good at holding her own in a conversation. “I wrote mine on the way people view mental illness and how detrimental it can be to the individual and society. I procrastinated on it way too long, so I had to write about something I knew rather than a new topic.” 

Hansika laughed, and Albus felt warm. It felt nice to make her laugh, but it also felt unreal. “I totally get that. I don’t mean to procrastinate as often as I do, but my naps often get the best of me.” 

“Really? Me too,” Albus said. “I’d get so much more done if I didn’t…” he trailed off, discouraged to keep going. He turned his head to see what Hansika was so interested in. What he saw was Adrian shyly talking to Scorpius, who was also talking to him a little shyly. The former was normal, but the latter was odd and surprising, with how well Scorpius got along with his friends. He would’ve pegged him for a socialite. Well, there was no reason that he couldn’t be nervous, but he seemed to be so talkative that it never occurred to him. It was his own fault for making assumptions.

“They’re cute, aren’t they?” Hansika commented with a giggle. 

“What?” Albus asked, turning back to her.

“Scor and Adrian,” Hansika clarified. She leaned in to whisper to him, “Don’t spread it around, but Scor really likes him. Since last year, actually.”

Albus hummed, slightly too distracted by the fact that Hansika was so close to him. He could feel his blush rising and reddening his face, so he shifted away. Hansika got the hint and backed away, thankfully. He didn’t know how much longer he could have taken that for. 

“Oh, really,” he finally offered. “I guess they are.” 

“It’s a little sad actually. Scor has tried to talk to Adrian for a while now, but he’d get a little freaked out and run,” she lamented for her friend with a shrug of her shoulders. 

“Well, he’s made progress now, hasn’t he?” Albus asked. Progress was progress, even if Scorpius looked scared out of his mind.

Hansika gasped just then, clutching onto Albus’ forearm. “You know what we should do?” 

Was he about to get himself into  _ more _ shenanigans? Dear God, how many more could he get into in one week?

“What?” 

“Help them get together. It’s been such a long time that I’m just itching to, I don’t know, give them a push. And since you know Adrian the best, and I know Scor the best, I think we’d be unstoppable,” she finished. “Or at least make a good team,” she conceded. Hansika nudged him gently. “So? What do you say?”

Albus chanced a look at Scorpius and Adrian, tilting his head. Facing Hansika, he said, “Why the fuck not?” and she cheered.

—

After that whole exchange, Albus and Hansika shared numbers. But so far, there haven’t been many texts, none of even talking about how they both should go about this. Not that he was waiting for a text from her. 

But it was all mostly alright, because Hansika now made it a point to talk to him during lunch and say hello to him in the hallways when she passed by. She was a lot easier to talk to than Albus thought it would be.

“Hello, Al,” Hansika greeted him cheerily, sliding in next to him. “How was your day?” 

“Good.” Albus grimaced. “Had a differential equations exam.” 

“How’d it go?” 

“Well, I began to wonder what possessed me to take maths in the first place instead of solving the problems, so I’ll consider it nothing short of a miracle if I get a passing grade.”

“That’s rough,” Hansika offered, wincing in sympathy. “I’m sorry. I hope it goes better for you next time.” 

Albus shrugged. “Anyways, you know how we decided to conspire…” He trailed off as he saw Scorpius slamming his things down on the seat opposite to him, saying, “I need your help.” 

This had him giving Hansika a Look, and then Albus turned back to Scorpius. “Okay… with what?” 

“How do you flirt with a person?” 

Albus almost did a double take with juice he had taken a sip of, luckily getting away with a coughing fit. “And… you decided to come to us—me for that?”

“Better than running circles in my head,” Scorpius fired back. 

“Well, my friend,” Hansika said, beaming, “you’ve come to the right person.” 

“Have I?” Scorpius questioned, smiling a soft sort of smile. 

Albus looked away, feeling a traitorous stutter in his heart. 

“Duh. I’ve flirted with many girls and a few boys too, so people all tend to be the same for me. Of  _ course _ I can help you.” 

“Right… so tell me how to flirt, oh wise one,” Scorpius joked, playing along. 

“Hm…” Hansika seemed to ponder something. “Well, I guess I could tell you what to do, but we all learn by watching, right?”

Scorpius seemed curious. “Sure.” 

“Okay, then, Albus be my sounding board.” 

And for real this time, Albus did choke. After receiving a few pats on the back from Hansika, and a few stares, he sorted himself out and replied, voice scratchy, “Um, well, okay?” 

“Great. The first thing is that it all depends on what you feel comfortable with—since I feel most comfortable with touch, I tend to gravitate towards touching them. I try really hard to stop that though, because a lot of people don’t like it like I do. But I usually do something like—” Hansika brushed her fingers on Albus’ shoulder, and he smiled, nervous. “—so. And if you’re feeling bold, you can make excuses to touch them—but don’t push boundaries, obviously. Respect matters more.”

Scorpius for his part seemed genuinely interested. It was good advice, just—not for himself. If he used Hansika’s advice on her, then surely, she’d catch on. At least it’d give Scorpius some good use.

“Watch, like this.” Hansika turned to fully face him, fishing out a pencil out of her bag while she was at it. “I think this is yours, Albus.” He reached out for it, unsure of what to do. But she handed it over, grazing her fingertips over his hand. She met his eyes for a second and then gave a half-smile. It was like that smile was made for her, or something. “Notice the body language—the smile, the eye contact, and pay attention to detail.” She situated herself back to now she was before. “And of course, if you aren’t okay with all of that, sincerity is always a great fallback.” 

Scorpius looked half amused, half serious, for while Albus couldn’t speak for the validity of the advice, it did consider what both parties were comfortable with. That was always a good thing. 

“So?” Hansika asked. “Am I a good teacher or not?” 

Scorpius smiled, now fully entertained. “Quite the show you’ve put on, but it helped me enough. I know how to approach it at least, so I appreciate it.” 

When he made a move to leave, Hansika scrambled to hold on to him. “Wait, we’re not done!” 

“We’re… not?” he asked, clumsily sitting back down, blinking. 

“No, silly! Better than watching, best of all, is  _ practicing _ !”

Scorpius stared for a long moment. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” but Albus was disheartened to know that Hansika seemed dead serious. 

And on  _ who _ exactly would Scorpius practice his flirting techniques on?

“I’m not. Here—try on Al.” 

Scorpius raised his eyebrows at him, questioning, and Albus shrugged. It couldn’t be that bad.

“Okay... well, then, um.” He paused, lips twitching. “Al, I think you are…” An unwilling giggle passed through his lips, and Albus struggled to fight off his own smile. “I think that you’re…” A stream of giggles now, but eventually Scorpius managed to force out, “When I first saw you I thought, wow, a cute boy, I’d really love to be friends with him, and ever since I have been… friends with you, you’ve done nothing but prove my initial impression. So, um. You’re really cute, is what I’m trying to say, I suppose.” 

As soon as Scorpius uttered his last word, Albus burst into a fit of laughter. Scorpius thought he was  _ cute _ ? From the moment he saw him? Well, now that absolutely had to be just pure acting. 

“Ooh, going for the sincere approach I see,” Hansika approved. “Good choice.” She scrutinized Albus. “Well, your flirting seemed to have worked. It’s time to spread your wings and fly, little birdie.”

Scorpius laughed loudly, swatting at Hansika, who avoided him deftly.

“Well, I’ve actually got to go now,” he said. “I need to go talk to McGonagall—physics has been kicking my ass lately.” 

Albus watched him go until he was just a tiny speck in the distance. Finally, he said, “Do you think that flirting with Adrian is going to work?” 

Hansika only snorted. “Oh hell no. Boy’s as subtle as a brick.”

—

“You know,” Albus commented on one sunny day after school was done and over with, “we haven’t actually gotten to, like, attempting to push together Scorpius and Adrian?” 

Hansika opened her mouth, and knowing what she would say, he quickly added, “Lessons in flirting don’t count, Scorpius asked for those!” 

The girl deflated, an adorable pout setting on her lips. Albus rolled his eyes, exasperated. 

“Well, what do you suppose we actually do then?” 

“You’re asking me? I could’ve sworn you were the one who suggested this!” 

“It was! Except… except that I may have not exactly thought this one through—I didn’t expect you to say, yes for one.” 

Albus paused, breathing in air. “Okay, let’s ignore that for now. I’ve seriously got no ideas for real though. I’m more inclined to push them in an empty room together and call it a day.”

“I don’t think that one’s going to work, I mean, who’s in a room with someone they like and then suddenly decided that they want to work their feelings out? I mean, they’re more likely to awkwardly nod each other to death or some shit. Sounds unrealistic.” 

“Excuse me, we are conspiring to get our two best friends together. What about anything in this situation sounds  _ realistic _ to you?” Albus asked, gesturing wildly everywhere and nowhere. 

Hansika sighed, conceding. “Yeah, true. What if we all like, go on a double date, and then we both ‘accidentally’ have things that pop up?” 

He thought about it. “I mean Scorpius might believe it since he doesn’t know me that well, but Adrian’s not as gullible. I could tell them that I had tickets for something or whatever, and I tell Scorpius to go with Adrian?” 

“Just tell Scorpius to go with someone he likes,” Hansika replied, almost by instinct. “Wait, no, why did I say that, that’d require us to spend money on that? I don’t know about you, but I’m broke.”

“Oh, shit you’re right. And I don’t think I’d want my parents to spend money on this either,” Albus told her.

“The life of busy students, we can never hold down a job…” Hansika stopped abruptly, seemingly catching something in the distance off to the side. 

Albus looked, but Hansika figured it out before he did. Suddenly, she pulled him into a bush—a  _ literal,  _ honest to god, bush. 

What the hell was his life? 

“Hansika,” Albus hissed, knocking his chin harshly into her shoulder. They both winced. “What are you doing?” 

“Hiding,” she answered back, a twinge of excitement in her voice. Her hair swept past him when she turned to him. “That’s Scorpius and Adrian right there!” 

“And a bush would hide us so well—ow!” he yelped, a stray branch scratching his skin. “How do you catch these things anyways, do you have, like,  _ hyper  _ vision or something?” 

“I think the answer is that you’re just more distracted than I am. But that isn’t the matter right now,” she said, grabbing his hand, pulling him up. He knocked his forehead smackdab into her chin. “Son of a motherfucker,” he cursed. 

“Aww, are you okay?” Hansika asked, a hint of mocking in her tone. She reached to touch his forehead, and he swatted it away, smiling unwillingly. 

“We’re going to lose them,” Albus warned, shifting away from her.

“Damn, you’re right,” Hansika cursed, running in the same general direction as the boys, and willing him to come with.

They both stopped behind a wall, hiding them from Scorpius and Adrian.

“Should we be doing this?” Albus whispered, looking at them. They both seemed a lot more relaxed since the last time they met, which Albus only knew as the first he introduced them. They could’ve met up many more times than that, and this just proved that they probably have.

“Have you done anything bad at all in your life?” 

“No.”

“Are you interested?”

“Not really. Some call it sad but really—I’d prefer to be a sideliner.” 

“What do you call this then?” 

“Do you call this doing something bad? We’re not hurting anybody or breaking rules.” 

Hansika thought about it. “I guess not.”

“Wait—they’re looking this way. They’re looking this way!” Albus whispered, inching more behind the safety of the wall.

Hansika followed, and they looked at each other. 

“Do you think they saw us?” 

She shrugged. 

He slowly peeked beyond the wall and he was relieved to know that they were clueless about them.

Straining his ears, he heard Scorpius talking to Adrian. It was a few words here and there, but none that stringed a coherent sentence. 

A few more minutes passed of him listening, and then finally—“I think I have beautiful eyes…” 

_ I think I have beautiful eyes. _

Now what the hell was that supposed to mean? Why did Scorpius just compliment himself? Adrian would think he was self-absorbed. 

His two brain cells took some time to properly put two and two together, but eventually he realized this was Scorpius flirting. This was how Scorpius  _ flirted _ . 

The resounding sound of his hand smacking his face couldn’t be missed. 

Hansika asked what happened, but at that point Scorpius’ apologies were loud enough for all to hear.

She narrowed her eyes at Albus. “Did he…” 

His head was buried in his hands, but he managed a nod. His face stung a little.

“Oh my god. What a dumb motherfucker.” 

Albus sucked in a breath. “Don’t say that.” 

“What? He’s my best friend and he’s also a dumb motherfucker. A stupid bitch if you will.”

He sighed, coming out staggered. “Let’s just go before we get caught.” 

—

“Say  _ what _ now?” Scorpius’ voice asked, too loud for the volume the cafeteria was at. 

Albus gestured for him to shut the fuck up, much like his mum would. They were catching stares, and to be under people’s scrutiny for too long was a bad combination resulting in more anxiety than was necessary for him.

He lowered his voice for his next statement. “Really? Hansika suggested you two work  _ together _ ? To get me and Adrian together? And you saw that awful,  _ awful _ attempt at me flirting with Adrian.” Scorpius laughed sharply. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

Albus shrugged, and he looked down at his food, feeling guilty for doing this all behind his back.

“I’m not angry at you or Hansika by the way,” Scorpius added on, as if reading his mind. “I just thought it was ridiculous, this whole thing. I’m not uncomfortable, but I appreciate you telling me.” 

He looked, smiling tremulously. Picking up his chopsticks, he began to eat his food.

“I didn’t think Hansika would do this, to be honest. I guess it’s sweet of her. And it just works out really well in our favor—if you’re trying to get us together, then that means more time with Hansika, yeah?” 

“Yeah. It’s why I agreed. It literally couldn’t have gone better in our favor, well you know how everything’s going with me, now how about you and Adrian?” 

“You saw that bad attempt at flirting, that’s how it’s going.” Albus could practically see the grimace on Scorpius’ face. “In my head I was better and I would have charmed him off his feet. But, uh, unfortunately my god awful social skills kick open the door.”

Albus laughed. “Yeah, same. I’ll never flirt with someone because I don’t need to make a fool of myself like that.” 

“On the bright side, I’ve been hanging out with Adrian at his theatre practices! It’s really fun there, and they were kind enough to let me try on the costumes. And I have to say, I look damn good as Romeo.” 

“I can imagine,” he replied. “I’ve been there with Adrian too, at the rehearsals. They’re really fun, but I haven’t been in a while.” 

He really did miss going to rehearsals—they were just the perfect amount of chaotic energy that he wanted, and he was pretty much guaranteed a good time there.

“I hope you get to,” he offered. He didn’t say anything after, staring..

Confused, Albus followed his gaze, wanting an explanation. And it went to his… hands?

When Scorpius saw that he noticed, he went to explain himself. “Off topic, but how long have you been using chopsticks for?”

“Um… for the entirety of my life.” 

Scorpius clasped his hands in front of his face. “Oh, baby, no.” 

Tamping down an unwilling smile at the nickname, he asked, “Why, what’s wrong?” 

“You’re using them wrong.” 

Albus gave him a look. “How?” 

“You’re doing the crossing over thing at the ends where you’re holding them. You’re  _ supposed _ to let the top one rest on the bottom one and let your fingers do the rest. Here—let me show you.” Scorpius leaned closer in over to where his hands were, and maneuvered everything into place. 

Normally, he wasn’t too bothered by people coming in close to him but this was just… oh my god. There were no words. 

It was no secret that Albus tended to fall a little in love with everyone, but Scorpius was different. There was just no way that a person was allowed to look  _ that _ angelic. And really, why did every boy have the longest lashes? Dear god. 

“There,” Scorpius said triumphantly, moving back into his original position. “Fixed it for you. Now try.” 

Albus clacked them together a couple of times. 

“Perfect,” he said, nodding in satisfaction.

“Why did that have you so pressed?” Albus asked, hoping to disguise the pink hue on his skin. “It’s not that serious.” 

“And let you get away with something that my mother practically beat into my head? I think the fuck not,” Scorpius huffed, crossing his arms.. “So as a favor, and for my own peace of mind, I’ll do the same to you.” 

“Thanks for the help then.” He got up, gathering his things. “I’ve got psychology now, so I’ll see you later.”

“I mean it, I’m going to make you into an expert,” Scorpius yelled from behind him. 

“Okay,” he called back, elongating the ‘y’. Honestly, Scorpius was so cute sometimes.

—

While in psychology, his phone buzzed. Albus didn’t usually get many texts from anyone, so this had him curious. 

Confident that he was safe from Min’s hawk-like gaze, he got his phone out of his pocket to check his messages.

(2:30 p.m.)  _ sdfjclkasdlkc I MEANT ASK YOU SOMETHING AT LUNCH BUT I FORGOT _

(2:30 p.m.)  _ so like, you’ve been getting along with Hansika really well these days, right? If that’s the case, do you have any plans for what you plan on doing next? _

Albus didn’t reply right away, feigning paying attention to the lecture.

It was true though, he had been getting along well with Hansika. She genuinely made it very easy to get along with. So, if that was the case, had he really needed to make a whole ass  _ deal _ with Scorpius for him to get to know her? 

...Well, to be fair, Hansika wouldn’t have sat with him at lunch if it wasn’t for Scorpius so… Albus shouldn’t complain. This wasn’t the worst that could happen to him.

(2:37 p.m.)  **um. no, not really**

(2:38 p.m.)  _ it’s been a while… i thought you’d have thought up something? _

If Albus could send the general vibe of a shrug through text, then he would have.

(2:40 p.m.)  **you thought wrong**

(2:40 p.m.)  **i don’t know, i just didn’t want to, like**

(2:40 p.m.)  **you know**

(2:41 p.m.)  _ listen, we won’t talk about it if you don’t want to, but i do know that Hansika has a really big sweet tooth _

(2:41 p.m.)  _ maybe you can make something for her to give? _

(2:43 p.m.)  **first of all, what would we make?**

(2:43 p.m.)  **second of all, i know fuck all about baking shit**

(2:43 p.m.)  **so if i were to make something, i’d need hella help**

(2:44 p.m.)  _ okay? i’ll help you _

Scorpius sent that to him as if it were that easy.

It was, but it could be easier. Albus was going to say that his dad could help because he was the baker and the cook in the family, but Scorpius beat him to the punch. He wasn’t too heartbroken over it, as it had been a long ass while since he’d had a friend over, so he’d let it happen. It couldn’t be that bad.

(2:46 p.m.)  **friday after twelve**

(2:46 p.m.)  **that’s when i’m free lol**

(2:46 p.m.)  **you?**

(2:47 p.m.) _ same _

(2:47 p.m.)  _ could we catch the same bus to your home or something? _

(2:47 p.m.)  **yeah, that’s fine.**

(2:47 p.m.)  **it’s a date, then?**

(2:48 p.m.)  _ it’s a date. _

Albus smiled, satisfied. It was a date, then.

—

“Your  _ friend _ is coming over today?” Lily asked, standing behind him with her arms crossed and looking a little more than curious. 

Tugging out the last knot in his hair, he looked to her, accusatory. “Why did you say friend like that?” 

“I mean, you’ve been talking about Scorpius ever since you met him, and it doesn’t sound like you like him in a friend type of way,” she clarified.

“You’re right, I like him less,” he snarked, once again going back to brushing his hair just to have something to do instead of having to face Lily’s judgement head on.

“Can I  _ please _ use the bathroom? I have school too you know,” James asked, the note of irritation ringing high in his voice. He was abjectly ignored by the both of them—Lily in preference of the original topic, and Albus because he was generally a distracted person.

“Really? I mean calling his smile endearing isn’t something friends do.” Lily paused. “Well, they can, but with you something’s always different.” 

Albus let out an annoyed huff. He really had to stop telling Lily every stray romantic thought that passed his mind—it gave her the wrong impression every time. 

“And you thought you wanted to be Hansika’s friend and then this whole situation happened so, like. What am I supposed to believe?” 

“I don’t know, your brother?” 

She laughed sharply, and then said, “No.” 

“I have school to get to,” Albus said, pushing past her. James muttered a ‘finally’ under his breath and darted inside the bathroom.

“I’m not letting go of this!” Lily shouted from behind him. 

He rolled his eyes, but true to her word, she was there watching a show when he got back from school with Scorpius in tow, as if she’d never left. 

“Allie!” Lily called, jumping up from her place on the sofa. “You’re home.” 

“Yeah, did you think I wouldn’t be? Why are you out here anyways, you’re usually in your room,” Albus said, dropping his bag. From the corner of his eye, he caught Scorpius mouthing ‘Allie’ under his breath. 

Lily didn’t answer, instead choosing to observe Scorpius. “You look nothing like I thought you would.” 

That, surprisingly, didn’t catch Scorpius off guard. Did he get these sorts of comments often? “What, was I like ugly in your head? In which case, thanks I guess.” 

“No, just… different.”

“I’m going to take that to mean you expected me to be blonde.” 

“Yeah, no, I mean… well, actually yeah.”

Scorpius shrugged. “I guess my mum’s genes were too strong. People tell me I look just like her.” 

“Hm. People tell me the same thing,” Lily replied. “Well, I get hives when I’m around people for too long, so I’m going to be in my room where no one can touch me.” 

She bounced off, and when Albus finally saw Lily close the door to her room behind her, he gave a look to Scorpius.

“Sorry, she’s always like that,” Albus told him, knowing full well that she wasn’t, and the only reason that she was like that was because Scorpius was on her radar. Due to him. He should really shut up.

“No, it’s fine,” Scorpius laughed, dropping his bag onto a dining table chair.. “I have a younger cousin who asks all kinds of weird and intrusive questions, so I’ve become used to it.”

“I’m glad,” Albus replied. “So, then you know what it’s like to have a little sister then?” 

“Cousins aren’t like siblings, though, are they?”

Albus looked up from searching through his pantry. “Aren’t they?” 

“Not usually, no. I mean, I am close to Lyra—my cousin—but only because my Aunt Daphne couldn’t be bothered to take care of her, so my family does. She’s around a lot. I mean, if that wasn’t the case, I probably wouldn’t be. Such is the case with my extended family.” 

“My cousins are more like my siblings, then, I guess. It never occurred to me that most people aren’t close with their cousins. Hey, what do we need for the cookies again? I brought the ingredients two days ago, but I think my dad sorted them all out…” 

“Oh, wait,” Scorpius said, taking his phone out. “Dark chocolate chips, unsalted butter, an egg, brown sugar…”

After getting everything out, Albus sighed. “My dad really said fuck organization huh?” His dad had put the ingredients  _ everywhere _ except where they actually belonged. His dad understood his own system. Albus didn’t.

They measured everything out as the recipe called for. Well, it was better said that Albus tried to measure according to the recipe, while Scorpius eyeballed nearly everything. He let Albus make sure everything was in order, and the only thing he fought him in was the chocolate chips, citing that, “You measure that shit with your heart, dude.” 

Albus didn’t really want to fight him on that anyways. Dark chocolate was his favorite and he always said that more was never enough.

“Are we ready to mix? I have the mixing bowls,” he told Scorpius. 

They both decided that Scorpius would mix, and Albus would add ingredients when the other asked. 

It was fine and all, but at one point he got a little too vigorous with the mixing, and accidentally let up a puff of flour hit Albus’ face. 

He coughed, and then looked up, blinking. 

Scorpius couldn’t keep in the laugh that left his mouth. “Wow… you’ve missed your skin color by a couple of shades. Want to get that fixed soon or?” 

“Shut the fuck up,” Albus hissed, grabbing a wet paper towel to clean his face off with.

“I really like the color you dyed your hair—it makes you look like an old man. But I hear that it’s  _ very _ in these days,” Scorpius continued, laughing now more freely, holding his stomach.

Albus made a motion of attacking him, and the speed at which Scorpius went back to mixing everything was hilarious as fuck. 

An hour or three later, everything was done—they had put the cookies in the oven, cleaned all the dishes, cleared the counter, and now they were both sitting in front of the oven watching the cookies rise. 

Making the dough for those cookies had taken entirely too long; why had Scorpius suggested them in the first place? A more complicated recipe meant more chances to fuck up, which also meant a higher chance of poisoning Hansika. 

But despite all the mishaps, they did manage to get a good batch of cookies in the oven, so what did it matter? Scorpius’ slightly more than the average knowledge of baking had come into use, and the job was done.

“You think they’ll taste good?” Albus asked.

“I think so. I’ve made them before for my family, and they loved it.” 

“Right.” There was a moment of silence as Albus thought of ways to keep it from being awkward between them. “Do you bake often?” 

“Yeah, with my dad. We try to bake every weekend, so I’ll be doing all this shit again tomorrow,” Scorpius joked.

“That’s really sweet,” he replied. “I used to bake with my dad, but I’ve stopped as I’ve grown older. Maybe I should do it again.” 

“You should,” Scorpius asserted. “I’d never get to spend time with my dad otherwise. We’re both so  _ busy _ . Me with physics—only physics, mind you—and him with his job. He doesn’t get paid enough for the number of hours of sleep he’s lost over it. It gets us literally the bare minimum. My mum too actually. I’d want them to get better jobs, but I guess they just can’t risk it yet. They did always say after I fucked off to university,” he mused.

Albus nodded, straining the two walnuts disguising itself as a brain to remember anything about his Scorpius’ dad. All he remembered was his dad telling him that Draco wasn’t the nicest person, and his Uncle Ron still seemed to be angry at him for his dad. It was a nice thought, but it’d been years. 

Scorpius seemed to love him, so that meant that Draco couldn’t be that bad of a person, right? And he’s clearly mellowed out, if he’s got a wife and a child. At least only a wife and a child to his knowledge.

And… who was his mum again? Albus could have sworn that his own mum knew Scorpius’, but her name slipped his mind.

“Al?”

He hummed in response.

“Why do you like Hansika?” 

“Sorry?” Albus finally broke out of his reverie and realized that Scorpius asked a legitimate question.

“Why do you ask Hansika?” Scorpius repeated himself clearly, turning to look at him properly.

Albus looked down, tracing the path of the pattern of the tiles on his floor. It was kind of  _ embarrassing _ , the reason why he liked Hansika. 

“Well?” he prompted, and Albus said fuck it, it didn’t matter much anymore. His emotions couldn’t be helped. 

“It’s, well, uh. For a while, we were partners in chemistry lab. It was like last year or two years ago? I don’t remember. But one day she called me. I think it was for me to get my half of the lab report done, but I was… suicidal, basically. I’m not there anymore, don’t worry,” he reassured. “I know it was just a call. But I don’t think she realized just how _ much _ she’s done for me.” 

A deafening silence followed his answer, and Albus laughed nervously. “On god, I am not afraid to cry on this kitchen floor if you don’t respond to me in, like, the next five seconds.” 

Scorpius cracked a weak smile, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. “Sorry, I just… didn’t know what to say. But Al… you do realize that’s not a good reason to like her, right?” 

“I can’t help what I feel.” Al’s voice sounded small to his ears.

“Yes, that’s true,” Scorpius conceded. “I’ll rephrase—that’s not a good reason to ask her out. I’m positive you’d be a good boyfriend—”

“You've been thinking about how I would be as a boyfriend?” Albus cut in. The atmosphere felt too heavy, and he felt too vulnerable.

The other boy laughed a full laugh this time, but he was adamant on getting his point across. “But I think you like her because she gave you basic human decency, when in reality your standards for a partner should probably be quite a bit higher than that.” 

Albus stared at Scorpius, and he looked concerned with some other emotion that was difficult to discern. He couldn’t look for too long; the sheer amount of care coloring his face was too much to bear to the point of being uncomfortable. 

His stomach was doing cartwheels. 

“You’re right,” he admitted, painful as the words were to get out of his mouth.

Scorpius nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Thankfully, he didn’t pry at all about what he wanted to do next regarding this whole mess. He didn’t want to think about it too much for right now.

“What about you?” 

“What about me?” he asked, distracted by checking the timer. Albus saw that there were five more minutes left. 

“You asked me about Hansika. Why do you like Adrian?”

“Here’s the thing,” he started with a laugh, leaning back on the cupboards behind him. “I think at the beginning, I had very real feelings for him. I don’t know why, it’s just that I saw him, and my heart went with it. As we spent more and more time with each other, I started to realize that maybe we’re better off as friends? I did try to like, flirt with him or whatever, but that went so spectacularly awful. So, yeah.” Scorpius shrugged. “Glad I got that all sorted out now though. And I have a new friend.” 

This news put a bad feeling in his stomach. “You’re not...” Albus began. “You’re not going to stop being friends with me, are you? Now that your side of the deal is finished…” 

“What?” he said rather loudly. “No—where’d you get that idea? Firstly, we haven’t figured out your deal with Hansika completely yet, and I was never going to drop you after this was all done with. I like you a lot, you know.” 

At those words, Albus’ heart could have collapsed right there and then. “Okay, that’s good to know,” he said, just as the timer ringed to let them know the cookies were done.

“Let’s get these cookies out and try them!” Scorpius said cheerfully. “I’ve been dying to know what you’d think of the recipe.”

—

“Hello?” Albus answered the phone, voice sounding blurry to his own ears. He’d been taking notes for this new psychology unit that they had begun, and the teacher had already assigned for them to read like a hundred pages in the first two days. Min would be Min, he supposed.

“Al?” 

“Yeah, it’s me,” he responded, brain lagging due to working for about four hours more or less. He was struggling to understand why Scorpius had called. Not that he minded, but he didn’t usually get too many calls, except the occasional call from his parents or siblings.

“God, sorry, I don’t usually call but I just had the most stressful experience of my life,” Scorpius began, a manic laugh escaping from him. “So I was doing this physics quiz online, right?”

“Right,” Albus echoed, moving himself to his room where he was less likely to disturb his mum, who had an article deadline looming menacingly above her.

“Wait, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even ask if you were okay with me calling?” 

“No, I don’t mind, you just gave me an excuse to take a break,” Albus told him, falling into his bed with ease. It’d been a solid twenty hours since he’d seen this bad boy, and that was far too long in his humble opinion. “Go on.” 

“God, so I had a physics quiz, right? And it was proctored by this software—I don’t remember the name but it’s irrelevant—” 

“Wait, doesn’t McGonagall teach physics in person?” 

“She does, but on the days we have quizzes she lets us take them at home on account of the fact that: they take long as hell, and physics is usually our only class of the day on Thursdays. But like yeah, anyways, I started taking the quiz, but five minutes into it, the lights in my room started flickering and I was like, well,  _ shit _ .” 

Albus tried to keep in his snort, but he failed. “Wow, uh.” 

“It’s one thing if I didn’t need the lights, right? But I literally needed it because I need to take a picture of my work for half credit, and was I really up in here about to be haunted  _ and _ fail a physics quiz?” A long suffering sigh could be heard from Scorpius’ end. Albus understood. 

“Like, I think the fuck not you trick ass bitch,” Albus said, trying to relieve some of the stress on Scorpius’ shoulders. 

He heard Scorpius’ signature infectious laugh, and that made him slightly proud of himself.

“Anyways, I was, like, scared out of my mind, and I started crying a little because of all the things I’m afraid of, it’s the dark. And the proctor sort of told me to… quiet down? So I had to deal with that along with freaking out about failing the quiz.” 

Albus really had to press his lips to stop his laughter. He couldn’t help it; ridiculous and painful situations always made him laugh—and boy was this one up there. When he felt like he could curb in his giggles, he said, “Aw, poor baby. Did you at least do well though?” 

“Yeah, that’s the good thing about this clusterfuck of a quiz; I got a four out of five. And I’m probably  _ not _ haunted, that light had been faulty for a few months now. It was just bad timing. It had pulled through for that long, so I can’t really blame it.” 

“Yeah,” he replied absentmindedly, fiddling with his duvet. “Are you feeling any better now?” 

“I am, thank you for listening to me bitch. I hope it was a good waste of your time.” There was a note of uncertainty.

“You’re not—I mean, you’re not a waste of my time, and I like listening to you talk anyways.” 

“Really? I talked a lot in elementary school. I'd have a friend in the morning, and then by the afternoon suddenly I wouldn’t.”

Albus frowned. “That’s… sad. I’m glad you have good friends now.” 

“I am too.”

A comfortable silence followed. 

“Hey… thanks for calling me, and… trusting me with this, I guess.” 

“It’s no big deal. Thanks for listening. I have other work to do, but can I call you again? Not later today, but just like… soon.” 

Albus blinked. “Yeah, of course,” he said, toning down his voice when he noticed that he sounded a little too excited. He was always happy to talk to people, but not a lot of people wanted to talk to him, so it always surprised him when people wanted him around. It wasn’t that people consistently told him to fuck off… but still. “I’d love it if you called. I like talking to you.” 

“I like talking to you too,” Scorpius echoed the sentiment. “Now I really have to go, but see you later?” 

“See you later,” Albus agreed. The phone cut off a few seconds later.

He brought the phone down from his ear, staring at the black screen and running a thumb over it.

Albus opened up the contacts app and saw how long he’d talked to Scorpius—twenty minutes. Not exactly a feat for a normal person, but it was for him. 

Maybe he did like Scorpius, but that also meant Lily was right. 

Fuck.

—

“Lily?” Albus called, turning around a corner into her room. Not finding her at her usual spot in the bed, he swiveled around on his heel to go back down the stairs. The one time he actually needed her around, Lily had chosen to disappear into the void. She always did have an uncanny ability to do that. 

“Lily!” he yelled this time, hoping his voice would echo around to her, wherever she was. 

“Allie?” 

Albus made a face, and at the doorway, he saw the unruly figure of his eldest brother: Teddy. 

“Teddy,” he said, delighted. “I didn’t know you were coming over today.” 

“Really? It was about time that I had to drag my ass down here for monthly dinner,” Teddy said, shifting his bag of miscellaneous things on his shoulders. “Hug?” 

“Always,” he replied immediately. Albus may not be a big fan of hugging people, but when it came to Teddy, he couldn’t help it. He was exactly the size of a giant teddy bear, which was to say that Teddy himself was short as hell. But still, it only meant that Albus could bury his face in his hair and relax for a moment. 

“Did Tor come with you?” 

“Hm… yeah, I dropped her off at her home and then came here.” Teddy’s voice was muffled. Picking his head up, he finally asked, “What were you yelling for anyways?” 

“I was looking for Lily. Have you seen her by any slim chance?” he asked, smiling sheepishly. 

“Um, no, I haven’t. Why?” 

“I have to ask for her advice on something. And also maybe admit she was right about something.” 

Teddy’s expression immediately formed into one of sympathy. “That’s a big yike, good luck with that. I think I’m going to go up to my room…? Sorry, but yeah. Also, mama—mum? Where is she?” Teddy asked, letting loose his arms around Albus.

“Probably in her work room or whatever. So’s dad,” he answered, starting back up for his search for Lily. “Lily! Where the  _ hell _ are you?”

Albus waited. There was nothing for a few seconds, and then a slam was heard from upstairs. How the hell did he miss a whole ass room? 

“What the  _ fuck _ do you want?” 

He didn’t answer, waiting for… “Language!” Ah, there was his mum’s reprimand. 

“Where do  _ you _ think I got it from?”

When there was no response from his mum, he snorted, shaking his head.

Walking back upstairs, he was about to open the door to the bathroom, but Lily beat him to the punch.

The light was off in the bathroom—that was why he didn’t think to check.

“What do you want?” Lily whined, just short of stomping her feet like a little kid. “I was about to call Sana—”

“You were in the bathroom washing up,” he said pointedly. Annoyed, he sighed and started backing away. “I  _ wanted _ to ask you about Scorpius, but I guess you don’t want to hear it so I’ll just—”

“ _ What _ ? No, I want to hear this,” Lily screeched, making grabby hands at him. He walked backwards into her room “Tell me everything! Do you like him? Did you ask him out? Did you—”

“I swear to god if you ask if we had sex, I’m going to text Sana that you really hate Grey’s Anatomy,” Albus said. It was unfortunately all the dirt he had on Lily, which, he guessed, said some really good things about their relationship. 

Lily rolled her eyes. “I was actually going to ask if he popped your cherry but go on.” 

“Fuck’s sake,” he shrieked, but a smile was tugging on his lips. “I think I like Scorpius.” 

She nodded encouragingly. “And?” 

“And I want to ask him out.” 

“ _ And _ ?”

“Any advice for me?” 

“That’s all?” 

“It’s never going to be about sex Lily, not even in a million years!”

Lily flopped onto her bed. “Well, I have a girlfriend but I don’t know how I got her.”

“You asked her out first, right? How’d that go?” Albus sat down in her desk chair, leaning back.

“I kind of… bulldozed through it? Like I was so ready to get it out of the way that I asked her out in the morning, when I was supposed to ask her out later that day, and she said yes. I’ve forgotten the rest of that day, actually, so I’m not much help there...” Lily shot up. “Didn’t you mean to send a letter to Hansika? How’d you write that then?” 

Albus scoffed. “That wasn’t exactly some feat of bravery. I didn’t have to talk to her at all, the letter did most of the work for me.” 

“It took  _ some  _ bravery to do it, so like harness whatever fueled that letter into asking Scorpius out.” Lily shrugged. 

Albus put his chin on the back of the chair. “Was it worth it?”

“What was?” 

“Asking Sana out.” 

Lily laughed, making a vague gesture. “I’m sure I could live my life perfectly fine if I hadn’t, but I wanted her around, so I guess I don’t regret it. And I finally have someone to do things with when my friends aren’t there.” 

He snorted. “Is that the appeal in having a partner? Having someone to do things with?” 

Lily didn’t answer immediately, a thoughtful look on her face. “I’d like to say that it’s more than that, but like… I think that’s exactly it. You’ve just summed up most romantic relationships.” 

“I’ve got to say, that sounds really nice. Well… that’s all I had to ask. Thanks for the help. Also, don’t forget to say hello to Teddy.” Albus made a move to leave Lily’s room, but Lily called out to him. He turned around curiously. She looked reluctant, but she said anyways, “If it doesn’t work out then you always have us.” 

“I have you,” he echoed, smiling faintly. “Didn’t know you were such a sap, Lily, but thanks.”

Albus closed the door before the pillow could hit his back, laughter spilling from his lips.

—

“Scor!” Albus ran up to him as he exited physics. Scorpius turned his head around and smiled tiredly. “Al. How are you doing? Everything alright?” 

“You really look like you went through hell,” he remarked, observing Scorpius’ bedraggled look. 

“That’s McGonagall’s physics’ class,” he replied, gesturing vaguely to nothing and everything. “Hell.” 

He brushed his hand over Scorpius’, who took it in his.

Albus would be ashamed if anyone found out that he had to suppress the biggest smile. 

“Anyways,” Scorpius said casually. “Lunch?” 

Albus gasped. “I have something to show you,” he said, sitting down. He gestured for Scorpius to sit opposite to him, and he tasked himself with getting his lunch out, along with his chopsticks. Carefully, he maneuvered his chopsticks to pick up a bite of pasta. It was mostly all sliding off as pasta was wont to do, but his technique, in his opinion, was spot on. Pointing towards the pasta, he said with a smile, “Ta-da!”

Scorpius laughed fondly, shaking his head. “You look very suave eating with your chopsticks properly.”

Pride swelled in him. “I’ve been practicing for you.”

“Really? You didn’t have to, but thanks.” The other boy looked touched.

“Listen,” Albus began, his smile waning. He started fiddling with his hands. “I meant to tell you this earlier, but I don’t think I want to ask out Hansika anymore.” 

Scorpius looked surprised. “Yeah? What brought this on then?” 

“I think I was starting to realize that I didn’t like her before the cookies, but what you told me the other day really put things in perspective for me, and well.” He shrugged. “This was the result.” 

“Well, I’m glad you’ve figured things out.” Scorpius started rubbing the back of his head. “You know, it’s funny, really. I thought we’d both at least end up with a date with Hansika and Adrian, not figure out that we actually liked them as friends. I guess it’s better than ending up in relationships that weren’t going to end well.” 

“I… wouldn’t have predicted this either.” Albus waited, his voice momentarily impaired by the swooping feeling in his stomach. “I also didn’t predict that I would begin to like someone else either.” 

Scorpius stopped midair from putting a cherry tomato in his mouth. “Okay, yeah, that was definitely unexpected. If you want to tell me, can I know who?”

The swooping feeling in his stomach increased, near painful. Dear god, of all the things he wanted, he so badly wanted to be a braver person.

It was okay though. It was just a few measly words. He had Lily and them. “You. I… accidentally may or may not have started liking you.” 

Scorpius choked on the tomato he was eating. Clearing his throat, he said, “Of all the ways I imagined someone confessing their crush to me, I didn’t imagine that I’d make a fool of myself right off the bat.”

The pain relieved itself a little at the fact that Scorpius was able to joke about it. That had to mean that Scorpius wasn’t too uncomfortable. 

“But you mean that? You really like me?” 

Albus nodded slowly, unable to tell where Scorpius was going with this. 

He let out something mixed between a sigh and a laugh. “Oh my god. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for the day to come?” 

He blinked. “What?” 

“Yeah, I like you too. I wasn’t exactly  _ joking _ when I said I thought you were cute when I first saw you. But you laughed at it, so I thought you thought I was lying, and I left it alone.” 

“I did think you were lying,” Albus admitted. “It just… it kind of seemed unbelievable, you know?” 

“It’s not that unbelievable. I do like you.” 

“Would you like to go on a date sometime then?” he asked, voice halting and apprehensive.

Scorpius smiled so brightly that the sun had some fierce competition. “I’d love to.” He slid his hand halfway over the table, open. “I’d kiss you, but this is a public space, and we’ll have to settle for hand holding, I think.” 

Albus put his hand over Scorpius’, giving a tentative but genuine smile. “I like this more anyways.” 

They stared at each other for a moment, and it would have been romantic, if Hansika hadn’t just come in at that moment, her voice nearly a shriek. “Are you two  _ dating _ ?”

**Author's Note:**

> Yesterday I offered you trash, today I have offered you more trash, just of a larger size. Enjoy the 7,000 extra words lol. aka sorry Taylor for all the insanely long entries that always seem to show up when i'm participating in your challenges? Idk why it happens like that.
> 
> This is my first Scorbus story, and I realize I dislike most other Scorbus stories because they're not my Albus and Scorpius. Which is just oddly... weird. It was the same thing with Teddy/Victoire lol. 
> 
> Also, the inspiration was not taken from To All the Boys I've Loved Before. and also yeah, that's the same sana and lily from you showed me all the stars.


End file.
